Residential security containers are increasingly popular in use, particularly the larger styles often referred to as “gun safes” or “home safes.” One of the most common styles of home safe is an upright, rectangular, free-standing structure, with a front opening door. These home safes usually have a safe body with a door frame defining an opening that leads to an interior space and a door attached to the safe body by hinges that swings into the opening in the door frame.
Most types of safes, including commercial safes and larger home safes, have a hand wheel or lever on the exterior side of the door that is attached through an opening in the door to a locking system on the interior side of the door. The locking system is usually attached to and controls the movement of carriages, which have a series of cylindrical lock pins attached thereto, positioned along the interior sides and sometimes the top and bottom of the door. Larger or commercial grade safes may have heavier carriages, more lock pins, or both; but, the principle of operation is often the same. There is a multitude of locking systems utilized with safes that include and are operated with a hand wheel or lever to move the carriages and the lock pins attached thereto. They typically operate by a lever system controlled with the hand wheel that is turned in one direction to move the carriage towards the edge of the door so that the lock pins are extended through pin holes in sides of the door panel frame. Thus, they can abut or otherwise engage with the door frame in the safe body to lock the door in place. If the hand wheel is turned in the opposite direction, the carriage is moved away from the door panel frame, retracting the lock pins through the pin holes, so they cannot abut the door frame, allowing the door to be opened.
Home safes that utilize this system can provide sufficient security for most situations. But, it has been shown that persistent effort with simple tools can effectively bend the door, bolt carriage, and/or the locking bolts so they no longer abut or contact the door frame, allowing access to the safe interior. This is often referred to as a “pry attack.” There have been numerous advances and changes to the locking mechanisms employed with these types of devices and to the configuration and position of the carriages and lock pins relative to the door frame. However, there have been no real changes or improvements to the actual lock pins or methods by which lock pins can engage with the door frame or safe body to secure the door to the housing.